Broncos Drop Another

With game time temperatures in Kalamazoo in the low to mid 40’s, a light rain that turned heavy at times and a 17-21mph wind the Broncos looked to halt their four game losing streak and to extend their winning streak over the Eastern Michigan Eagles to 8 games. However, in the end, the 14,488 fans who paid their way in left Waldo Stadium wet and disappointed after the Broncos failed to hold on to a 31-28 lead ending up on the wrong end of the 35-31 final score.

The Broncos came out in the first quarter and seemed to move the ball at will, but the Eagles offense was also able to keep pace throughout the game and was able to outgun the Broncos in the end.

Quarterback Ryan Cubit put in a strong performance completing 29 of 48 passes for 338 yards. He had a career high 4 touchdown passes but was also intercepted twice. Cubit connected with Greg Jennings for two touchdowns giving Jennings 20 for his career which moved him into third place on Western Michigan’s career touchdowns list. It was also his sixth multiple-touchdown game of his career and the 142 yards Jennings racked up gave him his eighth career 100-yard receiving game. Tight ends Tony Scheffler and Tyson DeVree caught the other two touchdown passes Cubit threw, giving Broncos tight ends five total touchdowns on the season.

For Eastern Michigan, Matt Bohnet struggled in the air in the first have completing just 2 out of 10 passes for 56 yards. However for the game he finished the game throwing 13 completions in 35 attempts for 225 yards. He threw three touchdowns and 1 interception. His favorite receiver Eric Deslauriers matched Jennings stride for stride. Deslauriers caught two of Bohnet’s touchdown passes and racked up 142 yards as well. However, junior A. J. Bennett made the most important catch of the game for the Eagles.

With 1:07 seconds left in the game the Broncos held a 30-28 lead and on a 3-3 Mark Bonds fumbled the ball at the Eagles 29 yard line. Bohnet led the Eagles down the field on a 6 play, 71 yard drive that used up 46 seconds of the clock. The final play came after Bohnet took a hit that left him groggy and not really knowing where he was. According to Eagles head coach Jeff Genyk, Bohnet made the last play, a 30 yard pass to Bennett, purely on instinct. Well, that instinct Genyk talked about paid off for the Eagles because the 30 yard pass ended up going for the game winning touchdown.

On the ground the Broncos running game fell short again gaining a total of 75 yards on 104 carries, the 25 yards Cubit lost on runs would have given the Broncos 100 yards if they had been positive yards. Trovon Riley let all Bronco rushers with 46 yards but on 14 carries. Daniel Marks was averaging 4.0 yard per carry before he was removed from the game after apparently aggravating a previous injury. Marks finished with 24 yards on just 6 carries. None of the Broncos touchdowns came on the ground.

For the Eagles though their running game kept them in the game until the passing game was able to get going. Anthony Sherrell left the game after getting injured in the first half but Bohnet did a good job filling in for him. Sherrell scored the Eagles only rushing touchdown gaining 55 yards on 6 carries. Bohnet ran the offense out of the shotgun for most of the game and ran the option out of the shotgun. He was able to gain 71 yards on 7 carries to lead all rushers.

In the battle of field goals Andrew Wellock had the edge over Robert Menchinger. Wellock connected on both of his field goals (23 yards and 33 yards) while Menchinger was only able to connect on one of his two attempts. Menchinger made his 22 yard attempt in the fourth quarter but his 44 yard attempt in the 2nd quarter sailed wide left.

The Broncos (1-5, 0-3 MAC) will play their final game of their current three game home stance against Northern Illinois University next Saturday. Meanwhile, they need to find a way to win the remaining 5 games of the season to salvage a winning season and with games against the Huskies, Bowling Green, Miami and Marshall the chances of a winning season are slim to none.